09-09-2010, 08:44 AM
I think you've hit on an important point. This individual and private experience of reading is, at least for me, an essential factor in its enjoyment. Even as a child, I preferred a solitary exploration of a story to a group-oriented one (such as sitting in a movie theater) where everybody's strings were being pulled at the same time.
Even today I prefer to watch movies alone. It has nothing to do with being a recluse or asocial; to the contrary, it is perhaps because I feel too connected to others around me, and can't separate myself from their experience. In order to have a complete, pure experience of a story, I require a buffer zone between me and other human beings. I'm interacting with the people in the story, in another world.
As for other people (such as one's children) not understanding the appeal of Gothics, well . . . that seems hopeless. A lot of readers are prejudiced by the "romance" aspect of the genre and don't have a grasp of the history behind it. It's frustrating trying to convince the uninitiated that these old paperbacks with sensational covers and authors they've never heard of might contain worthwhile reading. One friend of mine said, "If you're going to read trash, why don't you read good trash, like Carrie?"
That's why we need forums like this one.
Even today I prefer to watch movies alone. It has nothing to do with being a recluse or asocial; to the contrary, it is perhaps because I feel too connected to others around me, and can't separate myself from their experience. In order to have a complete, pure experience of a story, I require a buffer zone between me and other human beings. I'm interacting with the people in the story, in another world.
As for other people (such as one's children) not understanding the appeal of Gothics, well . . . that seems hopeless. A lot of readers are prejudiced by the "romance" aspect of the genre and don't have a grasp of the history behind it. It's frustrating trying to convince the uninitiated that these old paperbacks with sensational covers and authors they've never heard of might contain worthwhile reading. One friend of mine said, "If you're going to read trash, why don't you read good trash, like Carrie?"
That's why we need forums like this one.